The proposed research seeks to explore the relationship between self-blame and coping among victims of rape. The rape literature attests to the pervasiveness of self-blame among rape victims, and this phenomenon has typically been explained through discussions of a female victim mentality and the internalization of societal myths. Relying upon social psychological formulations for a theoretical perspective, the proposed project suggests that there are two types of self-blame, one behavioral and one characterological in nature. The former would reflect a control-maintenance strategy, having adaptive consequences, while the latter would represent an attack upon one's self-worth, having maladaptive consequences. It is proposed that self-blame by rape victims is likely to be of the behavioral type, representing a positive impulse to maintain a belief in personal control following the traumative event. Through in-depth interviews with rape victims and a laboratory analogue, the nature, pervasiveness, and implications (for coping) of self-blame attributions will be examined.